ayers



muren raras PATENT orricn.

F. J. AYERS, OF Sl. JOHN, NEWY BRUNSWICK, CANADA.

MACHINE FOR FEEDING NAIL-PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent No.l

To all wh-0m t may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK J. AYERS, a citizen of the United Statesof America, butl now residing in the city of St. John and Province ofNew Brunswick, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin the Feeding Apparatus of Nail- Cutting Machines; and I do herebydeclare that the same are fully described and represented in thefollowing specification and accompanying drawings, letters, figures, andreferences thereof.

Of the said drawings Figure l, denotes a front elevation of a nailcutting machine, and my improved feeding apparatus applied to it. Fig. 2is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3, is a vertical and longitudinalsection of the same. Fig. 4, is a top view of the mechanism situatedbelow the horizontal plane extending from A, to B, in'Fig. l. Fig. 5, isa top view 'of the mechanism situated above such horizontal plane. Fig.6, is an underside or bottom view of the mechanism situated above saidplane. Fig. 7 is an end view of the feeding apparatus. Such otherfigures as may be necessary to a full explanation ofthe machinery of myinvention will be hereinafter mentioned and de-l scribed.

The nail cutting engine exhibited in the drawings, is of the kindusually termed the Reed nail machine. It being well known, andextensively used, it needs little or no description from me. I shalltherefore refer only to such parts with which my improved feedingapparatus is directly connected.

In the drawings, C, denotes the main or driving shaft of the nailengine. D, the fly wheel thereof. E, the main rocker head. F, the uppercutter chisel, (or die). Gr, the lower cutter,bed, or die. I-I, asecondary shaft which receives its motion from the main shaft, and bymeans of gears I, K, fixed on them, respectively. On the outer end ofthe secondary shaft H, a beveled gear L, is attached, this gear beingmade to engage with another beveled gear M, fixed on the upper end of along inclined shaft N, which is supported by, and revolves in bearingsat a,

The lower end of the inclined shaft N, carries another beveled wheel c,which gears i into a beveled wheel (l, affixed to one end of ahorizontal shaft e. O, are the nippers or jaws, which carry the strip ofnail plate 7,792, dated November 26, 1850.

from which the nail blanks are to be successively cut, the said stripbeing subjected to certain movements during the operation. First beingadvanced between the cutting dies, it is there held stationary whilethey are severing a blank from it. This being done it isimmediatelydrawn backward a short distance, raised upward, turnedtransversely one hundred and eighty degrees, depressed toward the beddie, and finally advanced between the cutting dies. There -it againremains stationary an instant as before, and is afterward againwithdrawn, and subjected to movements similar to those above mentioned,except that the transverse movement is one hundred and eighty degrees inthe opposite direct-ion. Finally after it has been entirely out up orreduced, the pincers or nippers which held it are retracted, or drawnentirely back, or far enough to permit another plate or strip of metalto be supplied to them. The said nippers or jaws are attached to one endof a long bar P, which is square in its cross section, except where itrests within a bearing f, it being there made cylindrical, so as to becapable of beingrevolved within the said bearing. It passes through acylindrical pulley or drum g, whose journals h, z', are supported inboxes 7c, Z, of a rocking frame Q, which has journals at one end .whichare supported in boxes m, n, so arranged as to allow of the long barbeing lifted up, and lowered down by machinery applied to its other end.The said frame Q, is partly composed of two parallel ways or slide bars0, p, on and between which the bearing f, should be made to slide freelyso as to permit the nippers to be either moved toward or away from thecutting dies as occasion may require. To the external surface of thedrum g, two belts g, 7^, are fastened, one of the said belts, viz., g,being` wound around or partially around the drum, and connected to onearm n, of a vibrating lever beam It, by a suitable connecting rod orcontrivance s. The other belt is connected to a long spring bar orspring t. The lever beam turns or rocks in avertical plane on a fulcrumat w, andv when it is moved so as to elevate its arm u, the belt g, willbe drawn upon in such manner as to rotate the drum, and thereby rotatethe 'long bar I), and the pincers attached to it, the amount of rotationbeing one hundred and eighty degrees of a circle. In the meantime theother belt r, will be wound upon the drum, and so as to draw upon thespring t. On depression of the arm n, taking place, the reaction of thespring t, will reverse the mot-ion of the drum and cause it to move backone hundred and eighty degrees. The object of such movements of thedrum, is to produce the turning of the nail plate or strip in suchmanner that each side of it shall be made to rest alternately upon thebed die.

The lever beam R, is vibrated or moved up and down by means of a crankw, and a connecting rod or bar The said crank is xed upon the inner endof the secondary shaft H, and is jointed to the lower end of theconnecting rod or bar the said bar being made at its upper end to extendthrough a mortise or slot z, made vertically through the lever beam R.There is a spring catch y, fastened to the connecting rod above theslot, and extended down through the mortise or slot, as seen in Fig. 8,which denotes a vertical section of the, end of the lever beam R, theslot z, through it, and the spring catch. While the shoulder a, of thespring catch projects beyond the slot, and rests on the lever beam R,the downward movement of the connecting rod, (produced by the crank ofthe secondary shaft) will cause the lever to be put in motion. But if byany means the spring catch is forced and held back or toward theconnecting rod far enough, and so as to carry the shoulder directly overthe slot, and so that it may fall into and through the slot, no motionof the lever beam will take place. This is eected by machinery, and fora purpose which will be hereinafter described.

It may be remarked that in order to divide the nail plate into blanks,and so' that each of the said blanks may have a wedge shape, it becomesnecessary to arrange the axis of the long bar P, a little out of a rightangle with respect to the cutting edge of the upper cutter, and in a`lateral direction; that is to say, it should make a slightly acute angleto it, in a hori. Zontal section or plane. Under such circumstances, itbecomes necessary to draw back or retrograde the nail plate, a shortdistance immediately after each nail blank is severed from it; otherwiseduring the operation of turning it over it would be liable to strikeagainst the front face of the upper cutter or die. So as washereinbefore mentioned, before the nail plate can be turned, it has tobe lifted upward a short distance, or more than one half its width abovethe bed die. The mechanism by which such movements of the nail plate areeffected may be thus described.

The two slide bars of the frame g, are connected together at their innerends, by means of a semielliptical bail a, which tends downward and isjointed at its lower c end to a crank f', extended from a hori-k zontalshaft g, the whole being arranged as seen in the drawings. There is adrum L, on the shaft g, around which drum two belts z", c, are wound inopposite directions, and extend and are fastened respectively to twoarms Z, m', which project from the lever beam R. From the above it willbe seen that when the said lever beam is put in motion as described, areciprocating rotary motion will be imparted to the shaft g, and inconsequence thereof the arm or lever c', as well as the frame Q, will bealternately raised and depressed. While this is taking place the nippersare turned laterally, one hundred and eighty degrees as herein beforementioned.

The machinery by which the nail plate is moved forward and backward asherein before stated, may be thus described: The horizontal shaft e,herein above alluded t0. has its journals supportedin bearings n, 0,arranged in the upper ends of two shoulders p', g, which are disposed asseen in- Figs. 1, Q, 4, and 9, and 10, Fig. 9 being a top view of themechanism situated directly underneath the frame Q, while Fig. 10, is lalongitudinal Iand vertical section of the shaft e, and the mechanismconnected to it. On the shaft c, are two cams 1^', s, whichy aredisposed as seen in Fig. 10, and are. suitably shaped to impart to thelevers 'directly over them their necessary motions as will behereinafter explained. Besides the cams, the said shaft has a slidingpulley t, arranged upon it, and by the side of the cam r. A clutch u, isapplied to the adjacent sides of the said pulley t', and camr r, thesame being for the purpose of clutching the pulley to the shaft whennecessary. The pulley is connected with a movab e frame u, theconnection between them being such as not only to permit the freerevolutions of the pulley, but, when the said frame is moved eithertoward or away from the cam 1', to carry 0r move the pulley with it, andso as to either clutch or unclutch it to the cam, and of course when soclutched to so connect it to the shaft, as that it will be revolved byand with the shaft. When unclutched it is not moved by the shaft. Themechanism which produces the motions of the movable frame u, will behereinafter explained. Directly over the cam s, is one end of a lever v,the said lever having its the middle of the lever o, a frame isattached, and is made in a manner proper to support the fulcrum orrocker shaft y', of a second lever a', whose front or inner; end restsdirectly upon or over the cam 1", and which front end is elevated by thesaid cam during its revolution, and is depressed by the reaction of aspring a2, which is fastened to the floor, and connected to the lever bymeans of a rod b2.

To the two ends of the lever e', two rods c2, cZ2, are respectivelyfastened and made to extend upward, and to connect wit-h the two ends ofa strap or belt e2, which is arranged and made to extend over a pulleyf2, fixed upon a horizontal shaft g2, arranged and supported by a frame71,2, as seenin the drawings. Besides the pulley f2, there is a pulley2, and a feed roller k2, fixed upon the shaft g2, the said feed roller7a2, having a long bar Z2, resting upon it, and pressed down upon it, bya pressure roller m2, which is borne down upon the bar Z2, by means of aspring Z4, which is fastened to the floor, and connected to one of thejournals of the pressure roller by a rod o2. The bar Z2, is made toproject from a frame p2, which slides longitudinally on a longstationary rod g2, disposed as seen in the drawings. This frame p2,should be so connected with the bar P, as not only to allow the bar tofreely rotate, but to play upward and downward, when moved up and downby the frame Q, as herein before described. Besides this, the connectionshould be such l as that when the frame p2, is moved on its rod g2, itwill simultaneously, and to the same extent, move the rod P, and thepincers.

From the above it will be seen that when` the shaft e, is put inrevolution, the cam r', and the spring a2, bytheir consecutiveoperations, produce a tilting movement of the lever a, on its fulcrum.When the lever is tilted in one direction, that is to say, when it ismoved by the cam, the lever o', should be raised up by its cam s', andso as to elevate bodily the lever a', and the strap e2, and to suchextent as to raise the latter so entirely above the pulley f2, as toprevent it from producing` any rotative motion of the said pulley in onedirection. But whenl the lever is tilted in the other direction, the twocams should cease to act, and permit the spring a2, to not only producesuch movement of the lever, in such opposite di-. rection, but adepression of both levers, and a depression of the belt or strap, suchas will produce a rotative motion of the pulley f2. Such rotativemo-tion will create a consequent rotative motion; of the shaft on whichthe said pulley is situated, and of course'produce a similar movement oftheI feed roller k2, situated on the said shaft. l/Vhen such motion ofthe feed roller occurs,

the said feed roller will be made to act` i I against the bar Z2, and tomove it and thef pincers.

In order to produce the trifling or small retrogradation of the pincersimmediately after each nail blank has been severed from the strip by thecutters or dies, and so as to enable the front end of the strip to turnclear of the upper cutter, the 'cam s should be so formed and arrangedwith respect to the cam r, that it may produce no elevation of thelevers and belt, during a short period of time after the cam s, hascommenced to tilt the lever a. During this short period of time thestrap e2, remains close down upon the pulley f2. Consequently duringsuch time it will produce a retrograde movement of the pulley, therebycreating the required retrograde movement of the pincers. This havingbeen effected the cam s', is brought into action against the lever lv',the result of which will be the lifting of the strap to such extentabove its pulley, that no further retrograde movement of the pulleytakes place until the lever a', is tilted in the opposite direction, andby the reaction of the spring a2, as before described.

The machinery which produces the retrogradation of the pincers after thestrip of nail plate has been entirely cut up into blanks, suchretrogradation being far enough to admit of the pincers being suppliedwith another strip, may be thus specified. This mechanism is connectedwith and operates the movable frame u', which during its movements,clutches its pulley to the shaft e, so as to cause a rotation of thesaid pulley.

Around the pulleys 2, and Z, an endless belt r2, is carried. The movableframe u', by means of connecting rods u2, o2, is connected to two armss2, t2, which project from a vertical shaft 102, the whole beingarranged as seen in the drawings. On the upper end of the shaft fm2, isanother horizontal arm z2, which is made to stand in a direction at orabout at a right angle with that of the arms s2, 252. Near the outer endof the arm s2, is a vertical lifting bar y2, whose lower end is jointedat one end of a lever et, while its upper end works or slides freelythrough a projection a3, of a stationary bar b3, and has a spring catch03, applied to it, and extending down through the projection. A slided3, is disposed and made to slide on the bar b3, and has a projectione3, at one end of it. From another part of it, and over the projectiona3, and against the spring catch c3, another projection f2, is extendedas seen in the drawings. A small inclined cam g3, is made to extend fromthe outer end of the arm s2, as seen in Figs. l, and 11, and 12, Fig.1l, being an end view of the 4said cam and its arm, while Fig. 12, is aside elevation of it, the said Figs. 11, and 12, being drawn on anenlarged scale.y The said cam operates in conjunction with another, andsimilar cam h3, extended from the lifting bar y2, Fig. 13, being an endview of the said cam h3, as applied to the lifting bar. Fig. 14, is aside elevation of it under such circumstances, both of the said figures'being drawn on an enlarged scale. Directly underneath the lever o is abent lever 3, which plays vertically, and has its fulcrum at 7a3. Theouter end of the long arm Z3, of the said lever, is jointed to the levera4, in such manner that the elevation and depression of the said levere4, will produce the elevation and depression of the said arm Z3, and ofcourse a tilting movement of the lever 3, on its fulcrum.

When the pincers have been advanced far enough toward the cutting dies,a projection m3, from the frame 292, is brought into vcontact with theprojection e3, and so as to cause the slide cl3, to move and carry itsprojection f3, against the spring catch c3, and produce such a movementof the said catch, as will slip its shoulder off the projection on whichit rests, and allow the lifting bar y2, to fall down by the power ofgravity, it being understood that previous to this the said lifting barhad been raised upward so as to cause the shoulder of the spring catchto rest upon the projection a3. The said shoul-` der is seen at m4, inFig. 15, which denotes a vertical section of the upper part of thelifting bar, the spring catch, and the projection a3. From the above itwill be seen that when the lifting bar descends, the short arm of thelever 3, will be brought up against thelever v', so as to raise itupward; and it should elevate it sufiiciently as not only to prevent thecam 11, from tilting the lever directly over it, but at the same timeshould elevate the strap e2, above its pulley so as to permit saidpulley to freely rotate. It will also be seen that the cam h3, on thelifting bar, will fall upon the cam g3, and will move it so as to turnthe arm s2, and the upright shaft from which it projects, and therebymove the frame u, so as to clutch the pulley t', to the shaft e. Duringsuch time as the pulley is so clutched to the shaft, the rotation of thepulley will be effected. This through the endless band r2, will producea revolution of the pulley 2, and the feed roller in such a direction aswill cause a retrogradation of the pincers. Vhen such retrogradation hasbeen nearly or about completed, the frame p2, will be carried againstthe arm z2, and will move the said arm, and the shaft from which itprojects, and the same in such manner as to produce a retrogrademovement of the frame u', sufficient to unclutch the pulley from theshaft.

It remains now to describe the mechanism by which the spring catch fz,is moved or forced back for the purpose of so disconnecting the leverbeam R, and the connecting rod This consists of a lever n3, (which isjointed atone end to the lever 24, and works on a fulcrum 03, at itsother end) a. connecting rod p3, (jointed at its lower end to the levern3, and at its upper end to an arm g3, projecting horizontally from ahorizontal shaft r3,) and nally another arm s3, extended downward fromthe shaft, and directly in front of the spring catch y, the whole beingas seen in the drawings. When the lever et, is depressed, or falls down,it carries with it the lever n3, and thereby produces the back movementof the spring catch above described, and while the spring catch has itsshoulder pressed back into, or directly over the slot e, the connectingrod will play freely up and down through the slot, and produce nomovement of the lever beam R, and consequently no rotation of thepincers.

During the time the bar VP, and the pincers are being run back, for thereception of another strip of metal, or the substitution of another setof pincers and a strip, (the pincers being generally so applied to thebar, as to enable them to be easily disconnected therefrom, and anotherset put in place-of them,) the, pulley t, will be kept clutched to theshaft e, by means of a cam projection t3, and a spring u?, the said camprojection being xed upon the upright shaft m02, and made to enter acurved recess v3,

made in the spring, the said spring being Y fixed upon the framework.This recess should be so formed as not only to be capable of keeping thepulley clutched to the shaft, during such time as the same may berequisite, but also to allow the movement yof the shaft 102, (when thelifting bar is elevated,) to take place, and readily move the camprojection out of the recess .of the spring. The elevation of thelifting bar as above mentioned, which is effected by an attendant 0rperson who applies his hand to the handle w3, projecting from it, causesthe inclined inner face of the cam h3, thereon to come in contact withthe inclined outer face of the cam g3, and to so press against it as tocause a movement of the frame u', such as will unclutch the pulley t',from the shaft e. plate or strip, from rising off the bed die, duringthe operation of severing a blank from it, a rod m3, is used. It isplaced just in front of the upright cutter, and is extended down from anarm ye', which projects from the arm c. The lower end of the rod m3 isbent horizontally so as to rest on the strip when the arm g3, is down toits lowest position, the said arm being moved by and with the arm c', towhich it is attached.

In order to prevent the nail I-Iaving thus described my improved feedingapparatus for a nail cutting engine of the kind above stated [what Iclaim therein is `as follows:

Although I have described the particular mechanism as applied to theframe Q for raising the strip of metal high enough above the bed die toadmit of its being turned over as explained, I do not claim suchmechanism in itself separate, or uncombined with the frame Q, andmachinery by which the strip of metal is progressively advanced towardthe die, but

That I do claim is.-

l. The combination of such raising mechanism, with the machinery forimparting to the strip of metal its progressive forward movements, asspecied, the mechanism so combined with the said machinery, being thebail af, the rod b', the lever arm c', the crank f', shaft g', drum L,belts i', k, and the arms Z', m', of the lever beam R, the whole beingarranged and made to operate together substantially as specified.

2. And I further claim in combination with the mechanism which producesthe progressive advancing movements of the strip of metal, toward andbetween the cutters the mechanism for producing the retrograde movementof the pincers, after the strip of metal has been entirely operated uponby the cutters; such mechanism being the pulleys 2, and z, the endlessbelt r2, the movable frame u', and clutch or their equivalent, thevertical rock shaft wz, and its arms s2, t2, the cams g3, h3, thelifting bar y2, and its spring catch2 together with the slide d3, andits projections, the whole being constructed and made to operatetogether essentially as specified.

3. And I claim the combination of the arm z2, with the shaft co2, andthe mechanism forming the clutch, the said arm being for the purpose ofcreating a retrograde movement of the clutch, so as to unclutch thepulley t', from the shaft e, and this when the entire retrogradation ofthe nippers has been effected, the same being accomplished as hereinbefore specified.

4. And in combination with the mechanism which produces thereciprocating rotatory movements of the nippers or strip of metal heldthereby, I claim the combination of mechanism for arresting or stoppingsuch rotary motions, immediately on the final retrogradation of thepincers taking place, such mechanism being the levers e4 and n3, theconnecting rod p3, arm g3, shaft r3, arm s3, spring catch z, as appliedtogether, and to the lever beam R, and lifting bar y2, as described.

5. And I claim the combination of mechanism by which the progressiveadvancing and' intermittent secondary retrograde movements of the stripof metal are produced, the same consisting of the long bar Z2, and itsconnecting frame p2, the feed and pressure rollers f2, and m2, the shaftg2, and pulley f2, the strap or belt e2, and its rods 02, (ZZ, thelevers e and v, connected together as described, and the cams r, s', onthe shaft e. And in combination therewith and the lifting bar, c 2 Iclaim the bent lever 3, the same being applied to the same and used forthe purpose substantially as herein before specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my signature this twenty-ninthday of July A. 111850.

FREDERICK J. AYERS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE RoY WITNEY, Guo. A, LocKHART.

